We have previously discussed Ethnic Theatre and how it was created in America so that minorities had the opportunity to come together to celebrate and remember their home country and cultural. Hispanic Theatre falls under the umbrella of ethnic theater and through its numerous groups of people and various location aspire to develop community with those who had come to this country to feel more comfortable. There is a uniqueness about the Hispanic theatre, unlike most minority groups in ethnic theatre, Mexican Americans preceded the English colonists to the shores. The Hispanic population includes immigrants from Spain as well as from every Spanish-speaking country, but from the theatrical basis, it comes from three places: Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico (pg. 25). Hispanic theatre has been an on and off affair throughout history since the beginning. The lack of documentation has made it more difficult to track the progression of this type of theatre, however, current scholarships have divided the most important portion into three parts. Chicano theatre, which was primarily in the West and Southwest, Cuban-American theatre, mostly in New York and Florida, and lastly, Nuyorican with its Puerto Rican component. On top of varying locations, these subcultural theatre, have pretty distinct language usage as well. Chicano theatre still tends to rely heavily on a mixture of both languages, combined into ‘Spanglish’. Cuban- American theatre early productions were mostly solely Spanish, but the newer generation of writers prefer English. The Nuyorican theatre is very much dependent on English, which is the opposite of the island of Puerto Rico. I choose to focus on the Chicano more and concluded with it since this is the basis of the play for this week, Zoot Suit. Chicano theatre emerged in the 19th century in San Francisco and Los Angeles. These areas were majority centers of Hispanic theatre activity that sponsored visits by operatic companies even before the California Gold Rush. Most of the performances centered their themes around the problems of adapting culturally and linguistically to a predominantly Anglo culture. More recent Chicano theatre movement coincided with activism in the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. The new Chicano theatre became it seemed a revolutionary theatre committed to social change very quickly after the summer of 1965. It was then that Luis Valdéz and César Chávez used political orientated improvisational theatre ot underscore the migrant workers’ cause in the fields of Delano, California. Around this time, there was a peak in Chicano theatre and a national network was established to link all the groups across the country. The network hosted annual festivals that ultimately provided a space for useful interchange and opportunity for fresh perspectives on techniques. Zoot Suit, which we read, was opened in 1978 based on a historical episode of racial episode in East Los Angeles in the summer of 1943. There were many other plays created and performed that highlighted the difficulty of the Hispanic community and some prejudice and discriminatory nature they were faced with. Overall, the story of Hispanic theatre is one that is very familiar and similar between the minority groups. The white America has set an environment that this country is theirs and the everyone else was merely an uninvited guest to the party. Minorities create these theatres and many other forum based arts to develop a sense of community within a country of people that is not as open and receptive to them as they should be. The theatre allows them to pass traditions and remember culture since it is so easy for that type of stuff to be white washed. We learn about white American history and culture in school and when the history books attempt to teach about minorities, it is most often alternative facts they have developed to make the minority group look like the bad guy. I am glad that the theatres were created, but I am sad to learn they are on the decline. I believe it is important to support ethnic theatre to learn more about others and allow them to be able to thrive and survive. The first step in accepting someone different from you is learning more about who they are and where they are coming from.
I choose to focus on the Chicano more and concluded with it since this is the basis of the play for this week, Zoot Suit. Chicano theatre emerged in the 19th century in San Francisco and Los Angeles. These areas were majority centers of Hispanic theatre activity that sponsored visits by operatic companies even before the California Gold Rush. Most of the performances centered their themes around the problems of adapting culturally and linguistically to a predominantly Anglo culture. More recent Chicano theatre movement coincided with activism in the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. The new Chicano theatre became it seemed a revolutionary theatre committed to social change very quickly after the summer of 1965. It was then that Luis Valdéz and César Chávez used political orientated improvisational theatre ot underscore the migrant workers’ cause in the fields of Delano, California. Around this time, there was a peak in Chicano theatre and a national network was established to link all the groups across the country. The network hosted annual festivals that ultimately provided a space for useful interchange and opportunity for fresh perspectives on techniques. Zoot Suit, which we read, was opened in 1978 based on a historical episode of racial episode in East Los Angeles in the summer of 1943. There were many other plays created and performed that highlighted the difficulty of the Hispanic community and some prejudice and discriminatory nature they were faced with.
Overall, the story of Hispanic theatre is one that is very familiar and similar between the minority groups. The white America has set an environment that this country is theirs and the everyone else was merely an uninvited guest to the party. Minorities create these theatres and many other forum based arts to develop a sense of community within a country of people that is not as open and receptive to them as they should be. The theatre allows them to pass traditions and remember culture since it is so easy for that type of stuff to be white washed. We learn about white American history and culture in school and when the history books attempt to teach about minorities, it is most often alternative facts they have developed to make the minority group look like the bad guy. I am glad that the theatres were created, but I am sad to learn they are on the decline. I believe it is important to support ethnic theatre to learn more about others and allow them to be able to thrive and survive. The first step in accepting someone different from you is learning more about who they are and where they are coming from.